Acacia elongata Sieber ex DC.
WATTLE
Acacias of Australia
Common Name
Swamp Wattle, Slender Wattle
Family
Fabaceae
Distribution
Occurs from north-eastern N.S.W. near Kingscliff, S to near Eden and W to Wagga Wagga; also the in eastern highlands of Vic. and incipiently naturalized in a few other places in that state. Although there is a specimen from Vic. in ‘the Grampians’ (i.e. Oct. 1981, W.D.Campbell, NSW), it is probable that this locality is an error or the specimen represents cultivated material.
Description
Shrub to 5 m high. Branchlets angular at apices, yellow-ribbed, ±appressed-puberulous. Phyllodes patent to ascending, narrowly linear or sometimes linear-oblanceolate, mostly ±incurved, (4–) 5–13 (–17) cm long, (1–) 2–5 (–7) mm wide, obtuse to truncate-obtuse, mucronate or curved-acute, thin-coriaceous, glabrous, with 3 raised distant nerves and infrequent anastomoses in between; gland 1–10 mm above pulvinus. Inflorescences 2- or 3-headed racemes, sometimes appearing simple; raceme axes 1–15 mm long, appressed-puberulous; peduncles (3–) 5–16 mm long, appressed-puberulous; heads globular, ±5 mm diam., 20–42-flowered, light golden. Flowers 5-merous; sepals 1/2–2/3-united. Pods linear, strongly raised over seeds, straight, to 9 cm long, 3–6 mm wide, thin-coriaceous, sparsely to moderately appressed puberulous or glabrous. Seeds longitudinal, broadly elliptic to oblong, 3–4 mm long, glossy, dark brown; aril apical.
Habitat
Grows in sandy soils in upland eucalypt woodlands, along watercourses and swamps and in heathland with various species of Melaleuca, Banksia and Leptospermum.
Specimens
N.S.W.: S of Eden near intersection of Edrom Rd and track to Leatherjacket Bay, D.E.Albrecht 760 (MEL); Bogangah, 3.2 km S of Kingscliff, E.F.Constable 4844 (NSW, PERTH); Tianjara Falls, 35 km SW of Nowra, E.F.Constable 6991 (NSW, PERTH); near Kew, T.Tame 1875 (K, PERTH). Vic.: Moondarra State Park, A.C.Beauglehole 72388 (MEL).
Notes
Seems most closely related to A. ptychoclada. It superficially resembles A. trinervata (which has sessile, differently shaped, shorter, coarsely pungent phyllodes), A. dawsonii (which has quite different, viscid venation in the phyllodes) and A. viscidula (which has predominantly 4-merous flowers).
Maiden & Blakely’s variety dilatata has variable phyllodes, some of which are expanded in the apical portions and are truncate-obtuse with a central mucro; others on the same branchlets are rounded-obtuse. While the truncate form is striking, I am not convinced of its constancy in nature.
FOA Reference
Data derived from Flora of Australia Volumes 11A (2001), 11B (2001) and 12 (1998), products of ABRS, ©Commonwealth of Australia
Author
R.S.Cowan
Minor edits by B.R.Maslin & J.Reid
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